Shanna Hatfield's Fun and Simple Tips for Entertaining at Home

Easy, Inexpensive Home Makeovers

If you’ve done your spring cleaning and yet your home’s interior still seems lost in the doldrums, think about changing things up a bit for some decor excitement.

Here are a few ideas to get you started and give the inside of your home a very simple and extremely affordable facelift.

• Just Move It! – One of the fastest and easiest ways to completely change the look of your home is to move around the furniture. Sketch out your room’s dimensions on paper cut out pieces of paper in approximate dimension to your furniture and move it around until you get a combination that you like. Then you can do the heavy lifting and move your furniture around to its new resting place (or stand back and direct the process while someone else does the lifting!).

• Mirror, Mirror on the Wall – Place a mirror across from a window and suddenly you’ve got another window. Place it across from a door to give your room a wide-open feel. Any time you can place a mirror where light comes in, it creates a whole new level of warmth and openness.

•Pops Goes the Color – Add bright, fun pops of excitement with colorful throws and accent pillows. This works great on a couch or a bed. If most of your decor is neutral, you can have a lot of fun with seasonal color. Think hot pinks, turquoise or bright greens for spring, reds and nautical blues for summer. Think about what one red pillow or one turquoise throw could do for a room.

• Room to Breathe – Most people have more knick knacks, decor and sentimental treasures than their house can hold, let alone one room. Instead of trying to have everything on display all the time, select a handful of pieces that fit well with the season and put those out. Make sure whatever you are displaying has room to breath. Space creates a sense of order and openness.

• Let there be Light – If your lampshades are beyond repair, get some new light shades. If lamps are dark and clunky, give them a coat of paint. A light neutral shade can create a whole new look for your room. Or maybe you want to make the lamp your one focal point of color. Before you slap on a coat of eye-popping orange, get a paint chip and try it in the room to see what the overall effect is going to be.

However you decide to change things up this spring, remember to have fun with it!